little ghost girl
by Last Girl Standing
Summary: and he tells her with a jaded smile, "what's wrong, little girl? pretty girls like you shouldn't be so sad."patting the seat next to him and offering a marshmallow on a stick. /a homestuck crossover in which humanstuck!aradia is the new child of hades, nico is just a little bipolar and used to be in love, and aradia screws up, gains a friend, and grew a bit as a person. no hoo


**summary:** and he tells her with a jaded smile, "what's wrong, little girl? pretty girls like you shouldn't be so sad." , patting the seat next to him and offering a marshmallow on a stick. / or, a homestuck sort of crossover in which humanstuck!aradia is the new child of hades, nico is just a little bipolar, and the topic of children of zeus comes up somewhere around the middle. also titled, aradia medigo's first summer at camp half blood. no hoo.

* * *

Camp Half Blood is _weird._

It isn't that she doesn't like weird things, because she does, or that she isn't used to weird things, because trust her, she _is,_ but this is a whole new brand of weird.

She'd always sorta believed in Gods and magic and all that, but knowing for 100% and being a _demigod_ is just.. a new experience entirely.

Aradia'd stumbled over the camp line, a bloody mess, best friend limping next to her. The next hour had been a blur, the only thing sticking fully in her mind was "Aradia Medigo, daughter of Hades," and passing out.

{a little bit later, she'd recall the disdain in curled lips of some of the campers, but wouldn't know why}

* * *

It takes three weeks for her to start to settle into Camp Half Blood, but it happens.

{she's in the infirmary for three of those days, and when she gets out, there's a girl named Feferi next to Sollux that she is most certainly not a little bit jealous of}

The Hades cabin is dark and a bit gloomy, but it's interesting and fitting and just a bit messy on the inside. She sleeps in the empty bed on the left because the one on the right looks lived in and she thought she heard something about a sibling that she hasn't seen yet, but she knows they exist because of the right side of the room and a few hushed words she hears.

She's been there two weeks when a boy appears in her cabin in the dead of night.

He chokes and splutters out "who the hell are you and what are you doing in my cabin?!" and Aradia sits straight up.

It takes half an hour to explain, and at the end of it, Nico gives her a long, forlorn look, like he's trying to picture someone else in her place, and lies down to sleep.

{she wouldn't tell him, but she laid awake and listened to him try to sing himself to sleep for an hour. he had a really lovely voice}

* * *

It's week three day four when she understands why people avoid Nico and look at her weird.

Annabeth explains that Hades' children being welcomed here was a very recent development - three years ago, actually - and not everyone's quite so.. accepting of this.

* * *

It's week four and the fireworks are in three days.

Nico is distant as ever, and in the few moments she thinks they might start getting close in a siblingish way, he pulls away and gives her that same bitter look, like he was trying to picture someone else.

Sollux is off with Feferi, and she's just a little bit lonely {notjealousnotjealousnopenotj ealous}, and she hates that she lost her best friend so easily - they haven't spoken in two weeks.

_{"stupid son of zeus" _she mutters, and nico looks over at her with something that looks like a mix between pity and understanding}

* * *

Sollux kisses Feferi at the fireworks and Aradia sighs and murmurs "at least he's happy".

* * *

Aradia shouldn't be up this late, and most certainly not outside of her cabin, but she can't sleep. She's just wandering, lost in thought, no place in mind particularly, and you can't be lost if you had nowhere to go, right?

She expects the bonfire to be put out by now, but the fire is crackling, warm and low, so she sits on one of the inside logs and enjoys the heat among the breeze and almost silence of Camp Half Blood.

"What are you doing up?" she jumps and looks over at.. Nico, sitting on the other side of the fire. Roasting marshmallows. She can't really bring herself to be surprised.

She smiles sheepishly at him, but it doesn't reach her eyes and he knows it. "It's nothing," she mutters.

He shakes his head and he tells her with a jaded smile, "what's wrong, little girl? pretty girls like you shouldn't be so sad.", patting the seat next to him and offering a marshmallow on a stick.

Aradia sighed at the 'little girl', already somewhat used to his nickname for her. She moved so she was next to him and took the marshmallow.

"So tell me, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she repeats tonelessly.

* * *

He switches the topic to her family at her silence. She doesn't mind telling him about her Mom and Aunt.

"Do you have any family?" she asks curiously, and cringes at his sad expression.

"I had a sister, a long time ago."

"Had?"

"She died when I was ten," he sys sharply, his tone leaving no room for discussion, but his face softens at her apologetic expression. "Her name was Bianca," he states softly.

"Bianca di Angelo," she says, the name rolling off her tongue smoothy. It felt right. "Beautiful name."

"It means pure angel," he adds. "Very fitting."

* * *

Somehow, the conversation loops back to why she seemed so sad, and Aradia doesn't know how to avoid it anymore.

"Just a friend," she says softly. "We haven't been talking, and I'm just..." she gestures wildly, biting into the marshmallow - it's like the eighth that night.

"Lonely." Nico fills in. You can tell he knows that all too well.

* * *

"What's his name?" "Sollux." "Godly parent?" "Zeus." "Damn kids of Zeus.."

Nico gives her a bitter smile, and you think you can tell he's been down that road with someone else before.

* * *

"Who were they?" she asks. They've been silent for five minutes, and it's at least four am by now.

"Who was who?"

"Your child of Zeus." He shakes his head at her.

"How did you know?"

"I'm not stupid."

* * *

"She was ace - top notch," he starts. "Beautiful, spunky - rebellious."

Aradia leaned forward.

"And beautifully off limits." he adds. "You know what the Hunters of Artemis are? Yeah? Alright."

* * *

So Nico spins the tale of the most amazing girl he ever met. He tells her she was a Hunter - they were only right now the same age - and how she was on the quest his sister died on. He tells her how he hates that he resents his best friend for not saving Bianca, but can't hate her. He tells her about her blue eyes and her snarl - he tells her about the Second Titan War, and the roles he played in both the war and the Battle of the Labyrinth.

{he looks so regretful, she leans over and hugs him. he jumps with surprise, then hugs her back}

She waits until he tells her all about this mystery hunter girl and the War - and the War's repercussions and how it all came burning down - before asking her the questions on her mind.

"What was her name?"

Nico gives her a long look. "Thalia... Thalia Grace."

"...Did you love her?"

"Maybe I did. Maybe I still do."

* * *

She likes to think she saw Nico at his most vulnerable that night.

* * *

The sun's about to come up, so Nico volunteers to put the last of the fire out and sends her to the cabin.

"Hey, Aradia," he calls, and she turns around. "Maybe I can show you how to use your Hades' child powers sometime."

"I'd like that."

* * *

Aradia bumps into Feferi three days later, and the girl smiles exuberantly at Aradia, introducing herself as "Feferi Peixies, but you can call me Fef! Gosh, your hair's so pretty! Does it curl naturally that way or...?"

Sollux finds them five hours later sitting by the docks, Feferi talking to the fish and Aradia laughing at her antics, trying to see who can lean farthest off the dock without falling in.

{he looks rightly terrified at his best friend and sorta girlfriend being friends}

* * *

The first time she summons a ghost, she makes Nico cry.

She didn't mean to - but when he said she needed to request a spirit, she said the first thing that came to mind;

"Bring me the spirit of Bianca di Angelo."

A girl no older than twelve appeared, a vapor - a spirit.

Nico choked. "Bianca?"

"Nico.."

Aradia backed up, swearing under her breath as the two spoke.

When Bianca disappeared, Nico cried.

"Lesson is over," he said curtly, and Aradia ran like hell.

* * *

She doesn't go back to the cabin until she talks to Feferi by the docks again.

"You didn't mess up that badly."

"You didn't see his face."

"It'll all work out," Feferi promises, smiling and running her hands through Aradia's hair. "Doesn't it always?"

Aradia shrugs.

* * *

"I'm sorry," she murmurs late that night.

"It's fine," Nico answers tensely from the other side of the cabin.

"No, it's not," she says.

He doesn't respond.

* * *

She listens to him singing again that night - an old song that just sounded sad and regretful.

* * *

She wakes up to Nico packing up.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere - I don't usually stick around this long."

He disappears.

She cries.

* * *

"It's all my fault." she tells Feferi, the other girl brushing Aradia's hair, trying to calm her down. "I pushed away my brother! And the sister of the year award goes to anyone but Aradia!" she says, ignoring Feferi's soothing words.

Feferi hugs her tightly.

"It'll be better next summer. I promise."

"Next summer?" Aradia tilts her head sideways.

"The summer session ends in three days - remember? Didn't you say you were going home?"

"Oh.. Yeah."

Feferi frowns and hugs her tightly. "You still look so _sad.."_

"Then let's fix that, I guess?"

Feferi grins at her, "You know, Sollux is standing way too close to the edge of the lake..."

Aradia grins back and they stumble up.

{sollux is not amused by them throwing him in}

* * *

The summer ends too quickly.

* * *

Sollux still lives down the street from her, so they're riding home together, but Feferi scribbles her address and number on their arms and tells them to call her or write or so help her...

Aradia likes to think she left Camp Half Blood that summer with more than a sword and another friend. She likes to think she learned how to mess up, and she likes to think she learned that happily ever afters probably don't exist.

She likes to think she learned how to grow.


End file.
